Refrigerators having internal content cameras, and methods of operating the same

ABSTRACT

Example refrigerators having internal content cameras, and methods of operating the same are disclosed. A disclosed example refrigerator includes a cabinet, an internal compartment disposed within the cabinet, a closing member operatively coupled to the cabinet providing selective access to the internal compartment, two cameras disposed in the compartment and positioned to capture images of different portions of the compartment, two light sources disposed in the compartment, and a controller communicatively coupled with the cameras and light sources and configured to control the light sources to provide two different illuminations for respective ones of the two cameras.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/201,328, filed Aug. 5, 2015, and entitled “ObjectRecognition System For An Appliance And Method For Managing HouseholdInventory Of Consumables,” the entirety of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to refrigerators and, moreparticularly, to refrigerators having internal content cameras, andmethods of operating the same.

BACKGROUND

Refrigerators have a cabinet, and one or more internal compartments inthe cabinet. Doors are provided to allow a person to selectively openand close the compartment(s). In some examples, when a door is closed,the door prevents a person from seeing at least a portion of theinterior of a compartment.

SUMMARY

A disclosed example refrigerator includes a cabinet, an internalcompartment disposed within the cabinet, a closing member operativelycoupled to the cabinet providing selective access to the internalcompartment, two cameras disposed in the compartment and positioned tocapture respective images of different portions of the compartment, twolight sources disposed in the compartment, and a controllercommunicatively coupled with the cameras and light sources andconfigured to control the light sources to provide two differentilluminations for respective ones of the two cameras.

A method of operating a refrigerator having two or more cameras, andillumination sources disposed within a compartment of the refrigeratorincludes controlling the illumination sources to provide a firstillumination while one of the cameras captures a first image of thecompartment, and controlling the illumination sources to provide asecond illumination different than the first illumination while anotherof the cameras captures a second image of the compartment, wherein thefirst and second images are of different portions of the compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example refrigerator having contentcameras implemented in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIGS. 2-5 illustrate example manners of disposing a content camera inthe example refrigerator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example control platform for the examplerefrigerator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example process that may, forexample, be implemented using machine-readable instructions executed byone or more processors to implement the example refrigerator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example process that may, forexample, be implemented using machine-readable instructions executed byone or more processors to implement the example server of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate example user interfaces that may beimplemented by the example user device of FIG. 1 to present imagescaptured of the compartment of the example refrigerator of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In most instances, a person cannot view objects in their refrigeratorwhile the door(s) of refrigerator are closed. This often causes theperson to open their refrigerator simply to view the contents of theirrefrigerator, leading to increased energy consumption. Moreover, aperson may not know, but may wish to know, what is in their refrigeratorwhile they are shopping. This can result in running out of staples(e.g., milk, juice, eggs, etc.), or being unable to plan a meal aroundremaining food items, leading to potential food waste. Current solutionsallow a person to view only a portion of their refrigerator; works onlywhen the door is open, and/or requires complex camera movements in orderto image larger portions of the refrigerator. In such solutions,crispers, door storage bins, and pantry pans may not be imaged. Contentcameras for refrigerators, and methods of operating the same aredisclosed herein that overcome at least these problems.

For ease of discussion, the examples disclosed herein are described inthe context of a refrigerator. It should be understood that the examplesdisclosed herein are also applicable to other appliances including, butnot limited to, an icemaker, a wine cooler, a freezer, a washingmachine, a dryer, a clothes refresher, a stove, a microwave, an oven,and a dishwasher, including configurational variants thereof.

In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,”“an” and “the” do not exclude the plural reference unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Further, conjunctions such as “and,” “or,”and “and/or” are inclusive unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. For example, “A and/or B” includes A alone, B alone, and Awith B. Further still, connecting lines, or connectors shown in thevarious figures presented are intended to represent example functionalrelationships and/or physical or logical couplings between variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative and/or additionalfunctional relationships and/or physical or logical couplings may bepresent in practice. Moreover, no element or coupling is essential tothe practice of the examples disclosed herein unless the element orcoupling is specifically described as “essential” or “critical”.

As used herein, the terms “remote,” “remotely,” or equivalents orpermutations thereof mean that first and second remote functions areimplemented by, at, or in separate or different devices, servers,appliances, etc. separated by any distance. Remote does not require aparticular minimum separation distance. For examples, functions may beimplement by different devices at the same geographic location (e.g.,within a residence or a place of business).

FIG. 1 illustrates an example refrigerator 100 having a cabinet 101, anda refrigerated compartment 102 and a freezer compartment 103 within thecabinet 101. The refrigerated compartment 102 and the freezercompartment 103 each have an open face to provide access to thecompartments 102 and 103. The refrigerator 100 includes one or moreclosing members in the form of doors 104 and 105, and a drawer 106moveably mounted to the refrigerator 100 for movement between opened andclosed positions to selectively open and close the open faces of thecompartments 102 and 103. The doors 104, 105 may be formed or made ofany combination(s) of glass, metal or any other material(s) that block,partially permit or wholly permit viewing of the compartment 102 whilethe doors 104, 105 are closed. The doors 104, 105 need not be formed ofthe same material(s).

To allow items to be stored in the refrigerator 100, the examplerefrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 includes one or more shelves (one of which isdesignated at reference numeral 110). In the example of FIG. 1, theshelves 110 are supported by brackets (one of which is designated atreference numeral 111) on a back wall 112 of the compartment 102.However, other means may be used to support the shelves 110. The examplerefrigerator 100 includes any number and/or type(s) of drawers (one ofwhich is designated at reference numeral 112), and door storage bins(one of which is designated at reference numeral 113) on the doors 104,105 to store items. In the example of FIG. 1, the refrigerator 100includes an icemaker and/or ice storage 114 on the door 105.

While an example refrigerator configuration is shown in FIG. 1, itshould be understood that the content cameras and methods of operatingthe same disclosed herein may be used with other refrigeratorconfigurations including, but not limited to, a side-by-sideconfiguration, a top-freezer configuration, a 4-door configuration, etc.Moreover, the dimensions and locations of elements shown in FIG. 1 areillustrative, and should not be used to ascertain the actual size andlocation of those elements in an actual refrigerator. Moreover, thedepicted dimensions and locations are not to be used to read dimensionsand/or locations, absolute or relative, into the appended claims.

To capture images of the interior of the compartment 102, the examplerefrigerator 100 includes five content cameras 121, 122, 123, 124, 125.While the example cameras 121-125 are disposed on the doors 104, 105,they may additionally and/or alternatively be disposed on the drawerfront 106, or elsewhere within the compartment 102, and/or within thefreezer compartment 103. Fewer or additional cameras may be implemented.The cameras 121-125 may be disposed at, in, as part of, integral with,etc. liners 107, 108 of the doors 104, 105, as shown in FIG. 1. Wheninstalled, normally during manufacture, the cameras 121-125 becomeelectrically and/or communicatively coupled to other components of therefrigerator 100 using any wired or wireless protocol, signal,component, switch, hub, router, etc. such as, but not limited to, thoseassociated with universal serial bus (USB), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi©),Bluetooth, R5485, etc., or any combination(s) thereof. Proprietyprotocol, signal, component, switch, hub, router, etc. may, additionallyand/or alternatively, be used.

To illuminate the compartment 102, the example refrigerator 100 of FIG.1 includes one or more light sources, two of which are designated atreference numerals 131 and 132. In some examples, a light source 131,132 is implemented together with each of the cameras 121-125. Any numberof the same or different type(s) of light sources may be implemented. Insome examples, the light sources are implemented using light-emittingdiodes (LEDs). Additionally and/or alternatively, fluorescent,incandescent, halogen, or any combination(s) of light sources may beused. In some examples, one or more of the light sources areindividually, separately and/or differently pulse-width modulated toallow the amount or intensity of light and/or color of light emitted bya light source to be varied and, in some examples, different fromanother light source. For example, a light source illuminating a largerarea may be controlled to emit more light than another light sourceassociated with a smaller area. In some instances, two light sources maybe used to illuminate an area, while only one of them is used toilluminate another area. Further, a light source illuminating theinterior of a drawer formed of a color material may be controlled toemit a colored light that at least partially compensates for the colormaterial. Further still, different combinations of light sources 131,132 may be used to, for example, reduce shadows. For example, for ashelf 110 where it is typical for a person to place tall items in frontof shorter items, light sources 131, 132 may be positioned and used tolight the shelf 110 from different angles with possibly differentintensities. Some light sources 131, 132 may be angled, while others arestraight.

During the capture of pictures or images, different colors of lightand/or different types of light can be used to create variousilluminations. Changes in the color of light such as between blue,green, red and other colors can reveal different characteristicsconcerning items in the refrigerator 100. Additionally, different typesof light (i.e., fluorescent, incandescent, LED, halogen, combinationsthereof, etc.) can have an effect on how an item is imaged. For example,certain types of artificial light may travel through various containersin a more efficient and/or effective manner than other types ofartificial lighting. The use of alternate lighting colors and/orlighting types can be helpful to distinguish between items that may havea similar shape. The use of types of colors of light can also assist indetermining the state, such as in terms of spoilage, remaining contents,and other information of items.

Additionally and/or alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a camera205 may be mounted in, on, within, etc. a housing 210 that affixes to,mounts to, snaps onto, etc. the liners 107, 108 of the doors 104, 105. Ahousing 210 may, additionally or alternatively, be disposed on thedrawer front 106, or elsewhere within the compartment 102, and/or withinthe freezer compartment 103. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 210may be constructed to position the camera 205 at an angle 215 relativeto the liners 107, 108 of the doors 104, 105; and be mounted to theliners 107, 108 via, for example, a snap feature 220, a screw feature,etc. As shown in FIG. 3, a light source 305 may additionally beimplemented together with the camera 205 and the housing 210. When thehousing 210 is installed within the refrigerator 100, the camera 205becomes electrically and/or communicatively coupled to other componentsof a refrigerator. In some examples, the camera 205 is manually coupledvia a connector, is electromagnetically coupled when proximate to aconductor, connector, pad, antenna, wire, etc. within a door, iswirelessly coupled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, etc. In some examples, onlysome of the cameras 121-125 are angled.

Additionally and/or alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a camera405 may be implemented together with a storage bin 410 that is fixed inplace or is selectively positionable. The example storage bin 410 may beused to implement any of the example bins 113 of FIG. 1. In the exampleof FIG. 4, the camera 405 is disposed within a bottom 415 of the bin410. In the example of FIG. 5, the camera 405 is disposed in a feature505 that extends below the bin 410. Similar to FIG. 3, the storage bins410 may additionally and/or alternatively implement a light source 505.In some examples, the camera 405 is manually coupled via a connector, iselectromagnetically coupled when is proximate to a connector, wire,cable, pad, emitter, antenna and/or conductor within a door, iswirelessly coupled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, etc.

While content cameras implemented on a liner will typically be installedduring manufacture of a refrigerator, use of the housings 210 and/or thebins 410 permit content cameras and/or light sources to be installedduring delivery or installation, and/or thereafter.

Although cameras and light sources may be co-located, the light sourcesneed not be co-located with cameras. Moreover, there need not be thesame number of light sources as cameras. Further, even if cameras aredisposed on the doors, one or more of the light sources need not bedisposed on a door.

Typically, the content cameras and light sources disclosed herein willbe at least partially sealed and/or enclosed to prevent damage due toexposure to, for example, anticipated liquid and/or to facilitatecleaning of the refrigerator. However, content cameras and light sourcesneed not be sealed.

In some examples, a camera and/or a light source disposed on a door iscoupled to other components of a refrigerator via one or more wires,cables, conductors, etc. 135 passing through a door hinge 136. Note, theconductor 135 is purposefully exaggerated in FIG. 1 to assist theviewer. In some examples, multiple cameras and/or light sources aredisposed on a door, and are coupled through a top door hinge to, forexample, a hub, multiplexer, switch, etc. such as, but not limited to, aUSB hub or switch, located at the top of a refrigerator 100 near the topdoor hinge. The communication hub, multiplexer, switch, etc. may bedisposed at other locations such as, but not limited to, together with acontroller in the form of, for example, an appliance control unit (ACU)140 discussed below in connection with FIG. 6, at a human-interface(HMI) located on a front of door. An HMI allows a user to control and/ormonitor an appliance, such as the refrigerator 100. Of course otherlocations may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, placement of cameras and/or light sourcesat or beneath a structure, such as a bin or shelf, provides someprotection against mechanical damage and/or inadvertent exposure to, forexample, liquid. However, cameras and/or light sources may be placed atany suitable or selected location in a refrigerator.

Returning to FIG. 1, by positioning the content cameras 121-125 on thedoors 104, 105, images can be captured by the content cameras 121-125that represent a larger extent of the compartment 102 than existingsolutions because of the additional physical separation between theliners 107, 108 and the front edge of the shelves 110 and the front ofthe drawers 112. By being further away from contents of the refrigerator100, the cameras 121-125 can capture images having wider fields of view.By purposefully distributing the cameras 121-125 between the doors 104,105, as conceptually shown in FIG. 1, the cameras 121-125 cancollectively image substantially the entire compartment 102.Furthermore, the conventional structure(s) and/or placement of, forexample, storage bins, etc. on the doors 104, 105 present lessimpairments to the field-of-views of the cameras 121-125, as compared toother placements elsewhere within the compartment 102. In those otherplacements, shelves, drawers, etc. present greater impairments to camerafield-of-view. In some examples, the positions and/or angles of thecameras 121-125 can be determined using, for example, simulation,computer added design (CAD), empirical analysis, etc. In a specificexample, one camera is disposed on the door 105 and four cameras aredisposed on the door 104 and image a top shelf, a middle shelf, a leftcrisper drawer, and a right crisper drawer. Servos, motors, steppers,actuators, linear actuators, etc. may be used to move the cameras121-125 in one or more directions during use. Use of camera movement mayallow the implementation of fewer cameras 121-125. For example, the ACU140 can move a camera 121-125 to a first position, capture an image,move the camera to a second position, and capture another image. In thisway, the ACU 140 can capture images within the compartment 102 usingfewer cameras. Additionally and/or alternatively, a user of the userdevice 160 can remotely move a camera 121-125 to allow an image to becaptured of a particular portion of the compartment 102.

To control, among other things, the cameras 121-125 and the lightsources 131, 132, the example refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 includes theACU 140. The example ACU 140 of FIG. 1 controls the cameras 121-125 tosequentially take or capture images or pictures of respective differentportions of the compartment 102. In some examples, at least some of thecameras 121-125 capture images or pictures at substantially the sametime. In some examples, the ACU 140 controls the cameras 121-125 tocapture the images after the ACU 140 determines that the doors 104, 105closed. The example ACU 140 sends the images to a remote server 145 via,for example, a home router 150, and one or more private and/or publicnetworks 155, such as the Internet, a cellular network and/or a Wi-Finetwork. The images captured by the content cameras 121-125 are providedto or made available to a user device 160, such as a smartphone orlaptop, by the example server 145. Other example consumer user devices160 include, but are not limited to, a personal computer (PC), aworkstation, a residential gateway, a set-top box, a netbook, a tabletPC, a smart watch, a tablet, a media player, a game console, aChromebook, and/or any other type of computing device containing aprocessor. In some examples, a user interface on a front of therefrigerator 100 may implement the user device 160. In some examples,more than one controller is provided. For example, the controller 140may detect the closing of the door(s) 104 and/or 105, while anothercontroller controls a sequence of illumination, and picture or imagecapture. The other controller may be, for example, the communicationhub, multiplexer, switch, etc. discussed above. Other combination(s) ofother controllers may be used.

It is contemplated that any number and/or type(s) of wired and/orwireless communication device(s), network(s), technology(-ies),method(s), etc. may be used to communicatively couple the refrigerator100, the server 145, the network 155, and the consumer user device 160.Thus, the example shown in FIG. 1 is intended to merely representexample logical couplings between the various elements. Moreover, itshould be understood that the example content cameras and methods ofoperating the same may be implemented using any of these variousimplementations. Further, while an antenna 165 of the refrigerator 100is shown as external, it may be partially or fully internal depending onimplementation.

In the example of FIG. 1, the ACU 140 sends images to the server 145 aseach image is captured. That is, the ACU 140 waits to capture an imageuntil transmission of a previous image has been initiated or completed.The ACU 140 notifies the server 145 of a first in a sequence of images,and then notifies the server 145 when all the images in a group havebeen sent. The group reflecting, in aggregate or collectively, arepresentation of substantially all of the compartment 102. Othermethods of transmitting images may be used. For example, a group ofimages or pictures can be captured and stored in the refrigerator 10(e.g., in the ACU 140), and then subsequently or later transmitted tothe server 145 sequentially or in bulk. FIG. 6 discussed below depictexample manners of implementing the example ACU 140 of FIG. 1.

When a new group of pictures has been received at the server 145, theexample server 145 of FIG. 1 sends a notification to the user device 160that a new group of pictures is available. Depending on the user device160, a user of the user device 160 may be notified of the new group ofpictures. Alternatively, the user interacts with the user device 160 todetermine if/when a new group of pictures is available. Further still,the user may operate a program executing on the user device 160 to checkfor the group of pictures. In some examples, such a program is a webbrowser, or a custom-built program provided by the manufacture of therefrigerator 100, or a designee thereof. The custom-built program mayadditionally allow the user to monitor and/or control other aspects ofthe refrigerator 100 and/or other appliances associated with that user.In some alternatives, the user device 160 can directly interact with theACU 140 locally and/or remotely to directly obtain the group ofpictures.

Turning to FIG. 6, an example control platform 600 for the examplerefrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 is shown. The example control platform 600 ofthe instant example includes the ACU 140 having at least oneprogrammable processor 605. For example, the processor 605 can beimplemented by one or more Atmel®, Intel®, AMD®, and/or ARM®microprocessors. Of course, other processors from other processorfamilies and/or manufacturers are also appropriate. The processor 605executes coded instructions 610 present in main memory of the processor605 (e.g., within a volatile memory 615 and/or a non-volatile memory620), or stored on a storage device 625, a removable computer-readablestorage medium such as a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disk(DVD), a FLASH drive, etc.

The processor 605 is in communication with the main memory including thenon-volatile memory 620 and the volatile memory 615, and other storagedevices via a bus 630. The volatile memory 615 may be implemented by,for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® dynamic random access memory(RDRAM) and/or any other type of RAM device(s). The non-volatile memory620 may be implemented by, for example, flash memory(-ies), flash memorydevice(s) and/or any other desired type of memory device(s). Access tothe memory 615 and 620 may be controlled by a memory controller, notshown.

The control platform 600 also includes an interface circuit 635. Anytype of interface standard, such as an external memory interface, serialport, general-purpose input/output, as an Ethernet interface, a USBinterface, and/or a peripheral component interface (PCI) expressinterface, etc., may implement the interface circuit 635.

One or more input devices 640 are connected to the interface circuit635. The input device(s) 640 permit a user to enter data and commandsinto the processor 605. The input device(s) 640 can be implemented by,for example, a door closure sensor, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen,a track-pad, a trackball, a proximity sensor, and/or a voice recognitionsystem.

One or more output devices 645 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 635. The output devices 645 can be implemented, for example, bydisplay devices (e.g., a display, indicators, light emitting diodes,and/or speakers. The example lighting sources 131, 132 of FIG. 1 may beimplemented by the output devices 645. The example cameras 121, 122 ofFIG. 1 may be implemented as input devices 640 and output devices 645.

The interface circuit 635 may also include one or more communicationdevice(s) 650 and/or antennae such as a network interface card or moduleto facilitate exchange of data with other appliances, devices,computers, nodes and/or routers of a network. For example, the interfacecircuit 635 may implement a Wi-Fi module 655 and/or the example antenna165 of FIG. 1.

The example control platform 600 includes a communication device 660implementing any wired and/or wireless protocol, signal, component,switch, hub, router, etc. In some non-limiting examples, thecommunication device 660 implements a USB hub or switch, as shown inFIG. 6.

To control the illumination generated by the lighting sources 131, 132,the example control platform 600 includes a modulator, such as apulse-width modulator 665.

The Wi-Fi module 655, the communication device 660, and/or the modulator665 may be co-located with the ACU 140, or implemented elsewhere in therefrigerator 100. That is, they may be disposed on any number of printedcircuit board(s) located at any number of location(s). For example, themodulator 665 may be implemented on the same PCB as the ACU 140, withthe communication device 660 and the Wi-Fi module 655 each located ontheir own PCBs. The ACU 140 communicates with and receives images fromthe cameras 121-125 via the communication device 660, including in someexamples controlling the position(s) of the cameras 121-125. The ACU 140controls the intensity and/or color of light emitted by the lightsources 131, 132 by, for example, controlling PWM signals generated andsent by the modulator 665 to the light sources 131, 132. The Wi-Fimodule 655 implements any number and/or type(s) of wirelesscommunication signals including variants of IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, etc.

While an example implementation of the ACU 140 of FIG. 1 are shown inFIG. 6, one or more of the interfaces, elements and/or devicesillustrated in FIG. 6 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted,eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, any of theinterfaces, elements and/or devices of FIG. 6 may be implemented by oneor more circuit(s), programmable processor(s), fuses,application-specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logicdevice(s) (PLD(s)), field-programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), and/orfield-programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), etc. Further still, theexample ACU 140 may include interfaces, elements and/or devices insteadof, or in addition to, those illustrated in FIG. 6, and/or may includemore than one of any or all of the illustrated interfaces, elementsand/or devices.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process that may, for example, beimplemented as machine-readable instructions carried out by one or moreprocessors, such as the example control platform 600 of FIG. 6. Theexample machine-readable instructions of FIG. 7 begin with the examplecontrol platform 600 waiting until the door(s) 104, 105 of therefrigerator 100 are closed (block 705). When the door(s) are closed(block 705), the control platform 600 sends a start notice to the server145 that a new group of images of the refrigerator 100 are going to besent (block 710). The control platform 600 sets and/or controls thelight source(s) 131, 132 to form a first intensity and/or color ofillumination (block 715), and controls one of the cameras 121-125 tocapture an image of a first portion or zone of the compartment 102(block 720). The control platform 600 initiates sending of the image tothe server 145 (block 725). If not all images have been captured (block730), control returns to block 715 to capture the next image. When allimages have been captured (block 730), the control platform 600 sends anend notice to the server 145 to inform the server 145 that all imageshave been captured and sent (block 735). Control returns to block 705 towait for another door closure to be detected. The zones may be imaged inany order such as clockwise or row-by-row.

At block 715, the control platform 600 controls the light sources 131,135 to collectively emit light of different color, different intensityand/or different angle between at least two of the images. The light maybe varied by, for example, changing the number of active light sources,which light sources are active, the angle(s) of active light sources,the color(s) of light emitted by the light sources, the intensity(-ies)of light emitted by the light sources, etc.

In the example of FIG. 7, a door closure event triggers the controlplatform 600 to capture and send a group of images to the server 145.Other triggers may, additionally and/or alternatively, be used. Forexample, a person may operate a control panel of the refrigerator 100, aperson of the user device 160 may operate the user device 160 to requesta new group of images. For example, a person who is shopping may want tocapture a new group of images, etc.

Other methods of transmitting images may be used. For example, a groupof images or pictures can be captured and stored in the refrigerator 10(e.g., in the ACU 140), and then subsequently or later transmitted tothe server 145 sequentially or in bulk.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another example process that may, for example,be implemented as machine-readable instructions carried out by one ormore processors to implement the example server 145 of FIG. 1. Theexample machine-readable instructions of FIG. 8 begin with the exampleserver 145 waiting to receive a start notice from the refrigerator 100(block 805). When a start notice is received (block 805), the server 145initializes a record or data set for a new group of images (block 810).When an image is received from the refrigerator 100 (block 815), theserver 145 stores the received image in the record or data set (block820). If an end of notice is not received (block 825), control returnsto block 815 to wait for another image. If an end of notice is received(block 825), the server 145 closes the record or data set (block 830),and marks the record or data set as the most recent (block 835). Theserver 145 sends a notice of the new record or data set to the userdevice 160 (block 840), and control returns to block 805 to wait foranother start notice.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate example graphical user interfaces (GUIs) 900and 1000 that may be implemented or displayed on a user device 160 toenable a user to display or view images captured in the examplerefrigerator 100 of FIG. 1. The example GUI 900 of FIG. 9 is activatedwhen, for example, a user selects an “interior view” GUI element ofanother GUI. The example GUI 900 displays an aggregate or composite of agroup or set of images, one of which is designated at reference numeral905. In some examples, when the GUI 900 is activated, the most recentgroup of images is displayed.

Each of the images 905 corresponds to a different portion of acompartment of the refrigerator 100. Each of the images 905 has acorresponding label or description 910 that, for example, identifies orindicates the portion of the refrigerator 100 associated with the image905. The images 905 may be arranged in any way, such as logicallycorresponding to the respective physical locations of the zones in therefrigerator 100. In some examples, a user can modify the arrangement ofthe images 905 by, for example, dragging the images 905 within the GUI900.

One or more GUI elements 915 may be used to move between sets or groupsof images taken at different times or on different days. In someexamples, the elements 915 include a plurality of selectable GUIelements corresponding to different groups of images. In other examples,a user can move between groups of images using a swipe or scrollgesture. A user may close the GUI 900 by selecting a close GUI element920.

The example GUI 1000 of FIG. 10 may be activated by, for example,pressing or selecting one of the images 905 in the GUI 900 of FIG. 9.The example GUI 1000 of FIG. 10 displays a larger version of theselected image 905 to permit more detailed viewing, and its associatedlabel 910. The GUI 1000 displays day of week, date, time, etc.information 1005 representing when the displayed image 905 was taken.

In some examples, the GUI 1000 includes a GUI element 1010 that allows auser to, for example, save, send or share the displayed image 905. Aclose GUI element 1015 is provided to enable a user to return to theexample GUI 900 of FIG. 9.

Instead of being embodied as machine-readable instructions carried outby one or more processors, some or all of the example methods of FIGS. 7and 8 may be implemented using any combination(s) of fuses,application-specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logicdevice(s) (PLD(s)), field-programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), fieldprogrammable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), discrete logic, hardware,firmware, etc. Further, many other methods of implementing the examplemethods of FIGS. 7 and 8 may be employed. For example, the order ofexecution may be changed, and/or one or more of the blocks and/orinteractions described may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, orcombined. Additionally, any or the entire example methods of FIGS. 7 and8 may be carried out sequentially and/or carried out in parallel by, forexample, separate processing threads, processors, devices, discretelogic, circuits, etc.

As used herein, the term “computer-readable medium” or equivalentsthereof is expressly defined to include any type of computer-readablemedium, and to expressly exclude propagating signals. Examplecomputer-readable medium include, but are not limited to, a volatileand/or non-volatile memory, a volatile and/or non-volatile memorydevice, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a read-onlymemory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a programmable ROM (PROM),an electronically-programmable ROM (EPROM), an electronically-erasablePROM (EEPROM), an optical storage disk, an optical storage device, amagnetic storage disk, a magnetic storage device, a cache, and/or anyother storage media in which information is stored for any duration(e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, brief instances, fortemporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information) and thatcan be accessed by a processor, a computer and/or other machine having aprocessor, such as the example compute platform 600 of FIG. 6.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet; an internalcompartment disposed within the cabinet; a closing member operativelycoupled to the cabinet providing selective access to the internalcompartment; two cameras disposed in the compartment and positioned tocapture images of different portions of the compartment; a first lightsource configured to emit light within the compartment; a second lightsource configured to emit light within the compartment at a differentangle than the first light source to illuminate multiple sides of itemswithin the cabinet; and a controller communicatively coupled with thecameras and light sources and configured to move the cameras to a firstposition and a second position and to control the intensity of the lightsources to provide different illuminations for respective ones of thetwo cameras.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the controller isconfigured to: capture a first image using one of the two cameras; starttransmission of the first image to a remote server; and after startingtransmission, capture a second image using the other camera.
 3. Therefrigerator of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to:control at least one of the first and second light sources to provide afirst illumination in the cabinet during capture of the first image; andcontrol at least one of the first and second light sources to provide asecond illumination different than the first illumination in the cabinetduring capture of the second image.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 3,wherein the first and second illuminations differ in intensity and/orcolor.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the images are stored forsubsequent retrieval by a user device.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 1,wherein a first of cameras is disposed on at least one of a wall of thecompartment, the closing member, or a storage bin.
 7. The refrigeratorof claim 1, wherein the closing member comprising a door, and one of thecameras is communicatively coupled to the controller via a wire, cableand/or conductor passing through a hinge of the door.
 8. Therefrigerator of claim 1, further comprising another closing member,wherein one of the cameras is disposed on one of the closing member, andthe other camera is disposed on the other closing member.
 9. Therefrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a pulse-width modulator,wherein the controller controls the pulse-width modulator to control theilluminations.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the controllercontrols the cameras to capture the images after a door closure event isdetected.
 11. A method of operating a refrigerator having two or morecameras, and illumination sources disposed within a compartment of therefrigerator, the method comprising: controlling the illuminationsources to provide a first illumination while one of the camerascaptures a first image of the compartment; and movably adjusting theillumination sources to provide a second illumination at a differentangle and light intensity than the first illumination while another ofthe cameras captures a second image of the compartment, wherein thefirst and second images are of different portions of the compartment.12. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting the firstimage to a remote server, wherein the transmission is started before thesecond image is captured.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprisingnotifying a user when the first and second images are available at theremote server.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising usingpulse-width modulation to control the illumination sources.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: detecting a door closure event;and initiating capture of the first image after detection of the doorclosure event.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising displayingan aggregate of the first and second images.
 17. The method of claim 16,further comprising displaying a larger version of the first image whenthe first image is selected in the aggregate.
 18. The method of claim16, further comprising moving between the aggregate and a secondaggregate of third and fourth images when a different time frame isselected.
 19. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet; an internalcompartment disposed within the cabinet; a closing member operativelycoupled to the cabinet providing selective access to the internalcompartment; a plurality of cameras disposed in the compartment andpositioned to capture images of different portions of the compartment; aplurality of light sources disposed in the compartment; and a controllercommunicatively coupled with the cameras and light sources andconfigured to movably adjust the light sources to provide at least twodifferent illuminations from different angles for respective ones of theat least two cameras.
 20. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein thecontroller is configured to: control at least one of the light sourcesto provide a first illumination in the cabinet during capture of thefirst image; and control at least one of the light sources to provide asecond illumination different than the first illumination in the cabinetduring capture of the second image, wherein the first and secondilluminations differ in intensity and/or color.